You know it’s an eventful weekend in the NFL when two players from the same team crack the week’s top 5 fantasy RBs, and that’s not even the top fantasy story. That feat wasn’t accomplished once last season, and the fact that the pass-happy Patriots pulled it off in week 4 (courtesy of Stevan Ridley & Brandon Bolden) makes the achievement even more remarkable. However, it was an outburst from Brian Hartline (top-rated WR performance of the season) and the annual reemergence of Jackie Battle – at the expense of Ryan Mathews – that dominated headlines. If you saw either of those events happening, you truly are a soothsayer in the wild world of fantasy football.
So, which experts navigated the unexpected outcomes and delivered with their rankings? We’ll take a look at week 4’s most accurate pundits and also check in on the Year-to-Date standings of our competition.
Week 4 Accuracy Results
Top 10 Experts – Overall Leaderboard* | ||
Rank | Expert | PAY™ |
1. | Zhan Mourning – Gridiron Experts | 67.2% |
2. | Mike Tagliere – Tags Fantasy Football | 66.5% |
3. | Chet Gresham – The Fake Football | 66.4% |
4. | Site Projections – numberFire | 66.2% |
5. | Scott Cullen – TSN | 66.1% |
6. | Mike Woellert – Pro Football Focus | 66.0% |
7. | Staff Projections – WhatIfSports | 66.0% |
8. | Zach Greubel – Win My Fantasy League | 65.9% |
9. | Mike Krueger – FFToday | 65.8% |
10. | Site Rankings – Fantasy Football Nerd | 65.7% |
*See how all 96 experts ranked for the week
Year-to-Date Accuracy
Top 10 Experts – YTD Leaderboard* | ||
Rank | Expert | PAY™ |
1. | Site Rankings – Fantasy Football Nerd | 62.1% |
2. | Jody Smith – Gridiron Experts | 62.1% |
3. | Mike Tagliere – Tags Fantasy Football | 62.0% |
4. | Brad Evans – Yahoo! Sports | 61.9% |
5. | Chet Gresham – The Fake Football | 61.7% |
6. | Sablich Brothers – The New York Times | 61.3% |
7. | John Paulsen – 4for4.com | 61.1% |
8. | Muntradamus – Beast Dome | 60.9% |
9. | David Dodds – FootballGuys | 60.9% |
10. | John Halpin – Fox Sports | 60.8% |
*See how all experts rank for the season
Congrats to Zhan Mourning (Gridiron Experts) for claiming the title as week 4’s most accurate expert. Mourning delivered with several gutsy predictions, not the least of which was slotting Chris Johnson (RB #14) above all but one other fantasy expert. CJ2K finally broke out of his slump (141 yards rushing yards) and we can only hope readers of Gridiron Experts took the advice to insert him into their lineups. Mourning also went against the grain with his rankings for Brandon Marshall (WR #2) and Marques Colston (WR #11). Each WR had failed to produce big numbers in previous weeks but that didn’t stop Mourning from ranking both the highest of all 96 experts tracked. Marshall & Colston rewarded that faith by finishing the week as top 5 fantasy WRs. Lastly, Mourning had a read on a few of week 4’s biggest disappointments: Dennis Pitta (NR), Brandon LaFell (WR #43) & Ryan Mathews (RB #18). Pitta & LaFell failed to produce a single fantasy point whereas Mathews’ fumblitis found him upstaged by the immortal Jackie Battle. Mourning was lower than nearly the entire field of experts for each player and that ultimately helped him earn the week 4 accuracy title.
For the season standings, the Fantasy Football Nerd has jumped up to the #1 overall spot. The FFNerd is no stranger to success in this competition as its rankings finished in the top 10 last season & the top 5 in 2010. If nothing else, the yearly consistency continues to show that it takes a lot more than luck to deliver quality fantasy advice. We’ll see if the FFNerd can hold onto the top spot when we check back in next week. So far, we’ve had a new leader in the competition each week. That’s a trend the Nerd will surely be looking to reverse!
In the meantime, don’t miss your shot to get involved in the action to see how you stack up against the experts. Our Pick 5 games pit you against each expert in a Start/Sit contest. You’ll find out how your picks rate vs. the experts and, as a bonus, earn a cash prize if you can correctly pick 5 out of 5 Start/Sit calls (applies to your 1st game of the week). You can also play our weekly Beat the Expert Contest to win a share of a $1,000 prize pool. Best of luck in the contests this week!